Chapter Summaries

Lu Changfeng used the complete Eight Formations Diagram to attack Liu Ciyuan and the Twenty-Eight Mansions outside the Riverside Inn. He left the twenty-eight battered by wind, mud, ice, and lightning while Chen Xuanli watched in astonishment.

• Lu Changfeng revealed the Eight Formations Diagram and located Liu Ciyuan and the twenty-eight figures surrounding the Riverside Inn.
• Lu Changfeng unleashed fierce winds against the Twenty-Eight Mansions, but their dragon-hardened bodies withstood most of the wind blades.
• Liu Ciyuan recognized the Eight Formations Diagram and ordered Kangjinlong and the others to attack Lu Changfeng.
• Lu Changfeng trapped the twenty-eight in a swamp and froze them with the Earth-Bearing, Coiled Snake, and Flying Dragon Formations, but Kangjinlong and the others broke free.
• Lu Changfeng summoned dark clouds and struck the twenty-eight with repeated bolts of lightning, leaving them badly injured as Chen Xuanli watched.

Lu Changfeng defeated the transformed Kangjinlong with a single kick after Chen Xuanli was gravely wounded. He stabilized Chen Xuanli’s injuries and faced Liu Ciyuan, declaring Dragon-Slaying City nothing special.

• The Eight Formations Diagram battered Liu Ciyuan’s twenty-eight subordinates, prompting him to order Kangjinlong to attack Lu Changfeng.
• Kangjinlong transformed into a golden dragon and struck Chen Xuanli, sending him crashing into a tree with life-threatening injuries.
• Lu Changfeng used Three Realms Annihilation to smash Kangjinlong out of his dragon form and leave him near death.
• Lu Changfeng used Shennong Qi to stabilize Chen Xuanli, then faced Liu Ciyuan and dismissed Dragon-Slaying City as nothing special.

Lu Changfeng fought Liu Ciyuan, a peak Fifth Realm warrior from the Dragon-Ruling Clan, and held on despite being outmatched. Lu Yuanfang, Xiao Yanwen, and Zhang Tongxuan arrived to watch but hesitated over whether to intervene, while Qing Dai watched anxiously from an inn.

• Liu Ciyuan attacked Lu Changfeng, whose techniques let him withstand the stronger warrior through more than thirty rounds.
• Lu Changfeng resolved to stall for help, reflecting that he needed to be more cautious about risking his life.
• Lu Yuanfang sensed the battle and hurried toward it, while Xiao Yanwen and Zhang Tongxuan also set out after sensing the disturbance.
• The three men reached the battlefield, recognized Liu Ciyuan as a Dragon-Ruling Clan warrior, and watched Lu Changfeng hold his own despite his disadvantage.
• Lu Yuanfang asked whether they should help Lu Changfeng, but the three hesitated over the risks of provoking Dragon-Slaying City.
• Qing Dai watched the fight from an inn with Ajiu and silently believed Lu Changfeng would win.

Lu Changfeng and Liu Ciyuan fought a devastating duel across Linjian County and West Mountain Island, with Lu Changfeng’s techniques and swords overcoming Liu Ciyuan’s strength. After Lu sent Liu crashing into a mountainside, Liu summoned the Dragon-Controlling Halberd, Abyss-Suppressing.

• Lu Changfeng and Liu Ciyuan’s battle drew martial artists to watch as their fight devastated the town, lake, and West Mountain Island.
• Liu Ciyuan struggled to overcome Lu Changfeng’s defensive techniques and feared the three swords waiting for an opening to strike his eyes.
• Lu Changfeng seized a lapse in Liu Ciyuan’s assault and kicked him into a mountain on West Mountain Island.
• Liu Ciyuan emerged battered, blamed Lu Changfeng for forcing his hand, and summoned the Dragon-Controlling Halberd, Abyss-Suppressing.

Liu Ciyuan unleashed the Dragon-Ruling Halberd and battled Lu Changfeng in a destructive clash of divine weapons. As Lu Changfeng realized the halberd was intensifying Liu Ciyuan’s bloodlust and madness, he shifted to defense and prepared to exploit that weakness.

• Liu Ciyuan drew the Dragon-Ruling Halberd, terrifying Ajiu, and charged Lu Changfeng with its first form.
• Lu Changfeng met the halberd with the Wind-Raising Sword and then attacked alongside Gan Jiang and Mo Xie.
• The fighters’ battle devastated the mountain, while Jianghu fighters and grandmasters watched in awe.
• Liu Ciyuan’s attacks overwhelmed Lu Changfeng, and the halberd’s draconic might battered his body and divine soul.
• Lu Changfeng noticed Liu Ciyuan growing increasingly bloodshot and savage, and deduced that the halberd amplified the violent instincts of his dragon-blood cultivation.
• Lu Changfeng switched to defense to provoke Liu Ciyuan’s growing madness as the halberd swept toward him.

Lu Changfeng used the Heavenly Demon Zither’s Soul-Seizing Tune to turn Liu Ciyuan’s murderous impulses against him while buying time for Li Lingyue to arrive. Li Lingyue subdued the Dragon-Slaying City forces and defeated Liu Ciyuan, leaving Lu Changfeng with other captives to question.

• Lu Changfeng deliberately let Liu Ciyuan send him flying, then played the Soul-Seizing Tune to inflame Liu Ciyuan’s murderous instincts and disrupt his fighting.
• Kangjinlong recognized that Liu Ciyuan was nearing qi deviation and tried to attack Lu Changfeng, but a powerful palm strike knocked him into a deep crater.
• Li Lingyue arrived on a Flood Dragon and used the Purple Tenuity Scroll to pin down the remaining twenty-seven Mansions.
• Lu Changfeng stopped playing after Liu Ciyuan had lost control, and Li Lingyue struck Liu Ciyuan in the head, leaving him embedded in the mountainside and unresponsive.
• Li Lingyue teased Lu Changfeng about owing her thanks, and he suggested questioning Kangjinlong and the other subdued enemies.

Li Lingyue defeated the Twenty-Seven Mansions and forced Lu Yuanfang, Xiao Yanwen, and Zhang Tongxuan to share responsibility for the Dragon-Slaying City prisoners. She and Lu Changfeng accepted Lu Yuanfang’s invitation to Nine Tortoise Island, where they prepared to interrogate the captives.

• Zhao Lanjun and Mu Qinghong entered the formation and subdued the remaining Twenty-Seven Mansions, while Zhao Lanjun destroyed Kangjinlong’s dantian and sea of qi.
• Qing Dai apologized to Lu Changfeng for holding him back, and he healed her wounds and told her to prioritize her safety.
• Lu Yuanfang, Xiao Yanwen, and Zhang Tongxuan offered gifts to Li Lingyue, who declared that they had helped defeat Dragon-Slaying City and would be rewarded.
• Li Lingyue invited herself and Lu Changfeng to stay with the Lu Family, and Lu Yuanfang escorted them to Nine Tortoise Island.
• Li Lingyue and Lu Changfeng prepared to question the Dragon-Slaying City prisoners, and three captives were brought into a stone chamber.

Lu Changfeng used a blazing wind gu to break three Dragon-Slaying City captives and learned why they had come to the Central Plains, including a mission to seize the Wordless Heavenly Tome. The scroll was recovered, but its purpose remained unknown because Kangjinlong refused to talk and Liu Ciyuan had lost his mind.

• Lu Changfeng inflicted the blazing wind gu’s torment on three Dragon-Slaying City captives until one agreed to answer his questions.
• The captive said Dragon-Slaying City had come to explain Zhang Lingjun’s death, demonstrate its strength, and prepare for further operations in the Central Plains.
• He revealed that the group had been ordered to wipe out a Li lineage in Henan Circuit and take its ancestral sheepskin scroll, the Wordless Heavenly Tome.
• Li Lingyue brought out the blank scroll she had taken from Liu Ciyuan, and the captive confirmed it was the tome Dragon-Slaying City sought.
• The captive said only Kangjinlong and Liu Ciyuan knew the tome’s purpose, but Kangjinlong stayed silent and Liu Ciyuan remained witless, leaving Lu Changfeng without answers.

Lu Changfeng forced Kangjinlong to reveal why Dragon-Slaying City had targeted him and learned that the Imperial Seal could open the First Emperor's Mausoleum. Kangjinlong disclosed the map’s history and identified the keeper of another volume, leaving Lu Changfeng with a new lead at Inkstone Heart Academy.

• Lu Changfeng tortured Liu Ciyuan with blazing wind gu until Kangjinlong agreed to explain Dragon-Slaying City’s plan to seize the Imperial Seal.
• Kangjinlong revealed that the Imperial Seal was the key to the First Emperor’s Mausoleum and that the map was one of three volumes detailing its Underground Palace.
• Kangjinlong explained how Li Si’s retainer divided the plans among his descendants, and Lu Changfeng caught him concealing how Dragon-Slaying City learned about the Li Clan’s map.
• After Lu Changfeng tortured Liu Ciyuan again, Kangjinlong revealed that Su Yanqiu of Inkstone Heart Academy held the Mystic Volume and was Dragon-Slaying City’s next target.

Lu Changfeng treated Liu Ciyuan’s shattered mind and woke him, though the treatment could not restore his martial arts. He used the Soul-Shifting Great Method to question Liu Ciyuan about Dragon-Slaying City’s purpose in the Central Plains.

• Lu Changfeng decided to heal Liu Ciyuan and Kangjinlong so he could gather medical rewards, verify the Su Yanqiu lead, and preserve useful captives.
• Lu Changfeng treated Liu Ciyuan with the Supreme Unity Divine Needle and prescribed medicines while Li Lingyue teased and bickered with him.
• Zhao Lanjun and Mu Qinghong watched Li Lingyue act playfully with Lu Changfeng and felt relieved to see her relax.
• After three days, Lu Changfeng successfully treated Liu Ciyuan and received the Shennong Ruler, but Liu Ciyuan discovered that his martial arts were gone.
• Lu Changfeng struck Liu Ciyuan to silence his furious outburst, then used the Soul-Shifting Great Method to ask Dragon-Slaying City’s true purpose in the Central Plains.

Lu Changfeng and Li Lingyue traveled to Inkstone Heart Academy seeking the Mystic Volume, but Su Yanqiu revealed the First Emperor’s tomb concealed a sleeping Ancestral Dragon and warned that opening it could plunge the world into chaos. He ended by revealing that his own cultivation drew on the White Marsh bloodline.

• Lu Changfeng kept Liu Ciyuan alive as a hostage, treated Kangjinlong and the other captives, and left Mu Qinghong to guard them on the Nine Tortoise Isles.
• Lu Changfeng and Li Lingyue reached Inkstone Heart Academy and asked Su Yanqiu for the Mystic Volume, but he refused to hand it over.
• Su Yanqiu explained that the First Emperor sought immortality through the Azure Heaven Dragon Transformation Art and used the Great Array of the Celestial Stars to nurture dragon blood beneath his tomb.
• Su Yanqiu revealed that Dragon-Slaying City’s six supreme experts destroyed the First Emperor’s Dharma Form, leaving him gravely wounded and sealed inside his tomb with the dragon blood.
• Su Yanqiu warned that breaking the tomb’s seal could awaken the Ancestral Dragon and disclosed that he had obtained the White Marsh bloodline.

Lu Changfeng and Li Lingyue learned why Su Yanqiu was guarding the Mystic Volume: the First Emperor’s Mausoleum had spent a thousand years drawing in dragon qi, and even three Sixth Realm cultivators might not be enough to contain the resurrected First Emperor. After realizing Su Yanqiu would rather die than let the volume fall into dangerous hands, Lu Changfeng told him he did not have to die.

• Su Yanqiu revealed that his White Marsh bloodline let him know past events and understand why Lu Changfeng and Li Lingyue had come, though he could not clearly foresee the future.
• Lu Changfeng argued that Ye Fashan could help, but Su Yanqiu said he had already considered him and explained that the Mausoleum’s array had nurtured the First Emperor’s true body with dragon qi for a thousand years.
• Su Yanqiu said even three Sixth Realm cultivators might not be enough to control the First Emperor and that Yuan Tiangang would also need to hold the line, despite his poor condition.
• Lu Changfeng raised the danger to the academy’s children as leverage, but Su Yanqiu said his arrays kept outsiders from seeing them and that he would choose death rather than let the Mystic Volume be misused.
• Lu Changfeng recognized Su Yanqiu’s resolve and told him that he did not have to die.

Lu Changfeng persuaded Su Yanqiu to entrust them with the Mystic Volume, arguing that they must confront the danger of the Ancestral Dragon rather than keep delaying. Su Yanqiu handed over the sealed Bronze Casket after Lu Changfeng and Li Lingyue promised not to recklessly open the mausoleum.

• Lu Changfeng argued that guarding the Mystic Volume would not protect the clans or stop the Ancestral Dragon from growing stronger inside the mausoleum.
• Li Lingyue admired Lu Changfeng's reasoning and felt her love for him deepen as he urged Su Yanqiu to face the danger before it was too late.
• Su Yanqiu asked whether Lu Changfeng and Li Lingyue could solve the problem, and Lu Changfeng cited their conscience and growing strength as reasons to trust them.
• Li Lingyue declared that she wanted to prevent the Ancestral Dragon's emergence and stood beside Lu Changfeng in vowing to protect the realm.
• Su Yanqiu revealed a hidden door behind the bookshelf and brought out the Bronze Casket containing the Mystic Volume.
• Su Yanqiu entrusted them with the Mystic Volume after they promised not to let the Ancestral Dragon emerge or recklessly open the mausoleum.

Lu Changfeng and Li Lingyue were ambushed on their way to the Nine Tortoise Isles by a force from the anti-Wu faction. Their attackers included the deposed Crown Prince Li Chongjun, whose emergence revealed that the faction had been watching them and their newly acquired divine artifacts.

• Lu Changfeng and Li Lingyue left Mr. Su and shared a passionate kiss while boarding Zhao Lanjun's boat.
• As the boat neared the Nine Tortoise Isles, Lu Changfeng and Li Lingyue sensed an ambush and used the Purple Tenuity Scroll and Eight Formations Diagram to repel the attackers.
• Four black-robed figures confronted them on the frozen lake, and their leader recognized both divine artifacts.
• Lu Changfeng recognized the young-eyed figure as the deposed Crown Prince, and Li Lingyue identified him as Li Chongjun.
• Li Chongjun revealed himself, confirming that the anti-Wu faction had survived in Lingnan and may have targeted them because they had obtained the two heavenly tomes.

Lu Changfeng and Li Lingyue confronted the anti-Wu group, who demanded the Tomb Map and attacked when they refused. Lu Changfeng fought a descendant of Heichi Changzhi wielding the Border-Defender Spear, while Li Lingyue battled the group’s powerful elder.

• Li Chongjun greeted Li Lingyue as the old man recognized him and questioned Lu Changfeng about how he had identified him.
• A black-clad man demanded the Tomb Map, and Lu Changfeng refused to hand it over.
• The old man attacked Li Lingyue with the Twelve Mountains and Rivers Seal, and she fought back with her Heavenly Pivot Falling Star Palm.
• A black-clad fighter retrieved the Border-Defender Spear from beneath the lake and attacked Lu Changfeng, who countered with the Shennong Ruler.
• Lu Changfeng recognized the spear as Heichi Changzhi’s weapon and resolved not to let the anti-Wu forces succeed.

Lu Changfeng poisoned Hei Chijun during their battle, while Zhao Lanjun and Li Lingyue fought the other black-clad men. Li Chongjun watched, troubled by their enemies’ plan to seize the First Emperor’s Mausoleum and overthrow the Wu-descended rulers; the chapter ended with Hei Chijun’s poison stopping his final attack.

• Lu Changfeng distracted Hei Chijun by criticizing his Mount Yanran-Suppressing Art and Thirteen Frontier-Guarding Forms, then secretly poisoned him during their fight.
• Zhao Lanjun defended herself against Liu Jin’s sharp finger techniques, while Li Lingyue fought another black-clad man and Li Chongjun watched from the water.
• Li Chongjun reflected that his opponents sought to seize the First Emperor’s Mausoleum’s treasures and power to remove Wu Zetian’s descendants, despite the turmoil it would cause.
• As the poison numbed his body and blocked his true qi, Hei Chijun launched his suicidal Thirteenth Form, Heavenly Pillar Breaks.
• The poison shattered Hei Chijun’s Mount Yanran phantom and drained his strength, leaving him unable to circulate true qi as his Border-Defender Spear fell onto the ice.

Lu Changfeng captured Hei Chijun and struck a bargain with Li Lingkui’s group: they would bring back a head from Dragon-Slaying City in exchange for Hei Chijun. After they left, Li Lingyue revealed she considered Li Lingkui and his allies enemies and planned to interrogate their captive.

• Lu Changfeng stopped the battle by capturing Hei Chijun, and Li Lingyue recognized the masked elder as her nineteenth great-uncle, Li Lingkui.
• Lu Changfeng offered to exchange Hei Chijun for the head of someone from Dragon-Slaying City, whose people were also pursuing the treasures in the First Emperor’s Mausoleum.
• Li Lingkui accepted the deal and warned Lu Changfeng not to harm Hei Chijun; Liu Jin and Li Chongjun left with him.
• Lu Changfeng sealed Hei Chijun’s acupoints and handed him to Zhao Lanjun to guard.
• Li Lingyue told Lu Changfeng she regarded Li Lingkui’s group as enemies and approved using them against Dragon-Slaying City.
• Li Lingyue and Lu Changfeng went to interrogate Hei Chijun.

Lu Changfeng began slowly unsealing the Bronze Casket while Li Lingyue interrogated Hei Chijun, provoking him with the failures of the anti-Wu faction. Hei Chijun erupted in anger over the deaths of renowned generals and his faction’s inability to avenge Zhou Xing and Lai Junchen, leaving Li Lingyue convinced she was close to breaking him.

• Mu Qinghong reported that Dragon-Slaying City had made no moves and that Kangjinlong and the others remained imprisoned.
• Li Lingyue realized she and Lu Changfeng had forgotten to ask Su Yanqiu about the Mystic Volume’s third volume, and Lu Changfeng suggested investigating the Li Clan of Li Gate through the Plum Blossom Guards.
• Lu Changfeng began feeding true qi into the Bronze Casket’s talisman to dissolve its seal, while Li Lingyue went to question Hei Chijun.
• Li Lingyue provoked Hei Chijun by calling the anti-Wu faction failures, and he condemned the Demon Empress for killing renowned generals and weakening Great Tang.
• Li Lingyue taunted Hei Chijun over his faction’s failure to punish Zhou Xing and Lai Junchen, and she judged that his anger had brought him close to breaking.

Li Lingyue tricked Hei Chijun into revealing that many displaced nobles and former soldiers had gathered under his protection in Lingnan. After Lu Changfeng uncovered a clue pointing to the Heavenly Fowl Sect and Mount Yangluo, Li Lingyue set aside their investigation to take charge of an intimate moment with him.

• Li Lingyue named the nobles, soldiers, and clans she suspected Hei Chijun had gathered in Lingnan, provoking him into realizing she had trapped him into confirming their presence.
• Lu Changfeng opened the Bronze Casket and found the blank Mystic Volume along with a message pointing to a map hidden in a nest on Mount Yangluo.
• Lu Changfeng connected the clue to the Heavenly Fowl Sect and its leader, Luo Qingge, who had visited Yang Xuan's tomb on Mount Yangluo.
• Li Lingyue sent everyone else from the secret chamber and said they needed to return to Chang'an soon.
• Li Lingyue pinned Lu Changfeng down, insisted she would make the rules, and embraced him as she told him he was hers.

Lu Changfeng returned to Chang'an and reunited with Luo Qingge after she performed for a crowd of birds at the Moon-Gathering Tower. He asked whether she had noticed anything connected to the Azure Luan at Senior Yang Xuan's tomb site, and Luo Qingge recalled a mural.

• Lu Yuanfang received Li Lingyue's Command Token and instructions to use it if Dragon-Slaying City came after Liu Ciyuan.
• Lu Changfeng, Li Lingyue, and Qing Dai flew toward Chang'an with Liu Ciyuan on Lingbo, while Mu Qinghong and Zhao Lanjun followed with Kangjinlong and Hei Chijun.
• Luo Qingge played “Birdsong in the Empty Mountains” at the Moon-Gathering Tower, drawing hundreds of birds and an astonished audience.
• Luo Qingge considered using the Heavenly Fowl Sect's Bird-Commanding art to strengthen herself and support Lu Changfeng, but hesitated over turning birds into puppets.
• Lu Changfeng appeared in the Cloud-Deep Pavilion and embraced Luo Qingge, while Yan Mingxiao left them alone.
• Lu Changfeng asked Luo Qingge about anything unusual at Senior Yang Xuan's tomb site related to the Azure Luan, and she remembered a mural.